Dr. Murray Feingold: Pay attention to consumption

Tuesday

You probably have heard the expression "Your eyes are bigger than your stomach," indicating that you have eaten too much food.

You probably have heard the expression "Your eyes are bigger than your stomach," indicating that you have eaten too much food.

Most of us have been guilty of doing this, some more often than others.

Recently described in the medical literature is another condition relating to your eyes and food ingestion. It is called the "eye-mouth gap" syndrome. The eye-mouth gap syndrome is the underestimation of the amount of food you eat, and the overestimation of the types of food that you consume.

This is a very common condition. A recent national survey showed that adults underestimate what they eat by 800 calories -- and that's a lot of calories.

The same survey showed people also overestimate the amount of nutritious foods they eat, such as fruits and vegetables. They believe that they eat a lot more of these foods than they actually do.

It is theorized that these incorrect estimates are usually done on an unconscious level and the person is not consciously trying to deceive him or herself. No matter if it is done on a conscious or unconscious level, such misinformation may be hazardous to your health.

The first byproduct of underestimating is weight gain. Prior studies have shown that many overweight people believe that are not eating an excessive amount of food, when in reality they are.

It is recommended that people eat two servings of fruits and three serving of vegetables each day. If you overestimate the amount of nutritious foods you eat, it is very likely that you are not eating the recommended amounts, although you believe you are.

One way to get a better perspective concerning the amount of food you are consuming is to weigh or measure the food. Once you have a better idea concerning the amount of food you are eating, you can then discontinue weighing and measuring.

What is important is that you realize you may have the eye-mouth gap syndrome so you can then start to pay more attention to the amounts and types of food that you consume.

Massachusetts-based Dr. Murray Feingold is the physician in chief of the National Birth Defects Center, medical editor of WBZ-TV and WBZ radio, and president of the Genesis Fund. The Genesis Fund is a nonprofit organization that funds the care of children born with birth defects, mental retardation and genetic diseases.

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